Alenia North America last month flew the first of 18 G.222—military designation C-27A—that its parent Alenia Aeronautica is refurbishing near Naples, Italy, for use by the Afghanistan National Army Air Corps. According to a Sept. 3 release from the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisor Group, ANA is slated to receive a total of 20 C-27As, beginning in November. An Alenia NA release noted that the company will deliver the first aircraft this month and begin training USAF advisors in Afghanistan in their operation before the Combined Air Power Transition Force turns them over to the ANA. Deliveries are expected to continue through 2011. Select ANA pilots have been undergoing English language training in San Antonio, where they also will undergo an instrument flight rules course. USAF advisors then will indoctrinate them in the C-27A. Other Afghan airmen also recently completed a basic loadmaster course.
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.